Supreme Magus

Chapter 4287: The Veil (Part 1)

"Your mother is right, Faluel." Solus replied. "The metal plating and the crystal case are both hollow and serve the same purpose. To accumulate and store large amounts of world energy indefinitely, allowing the tower to operate at full power when there is no mana geyser available."

"It’s one of the last floors to be recovered because it was the first to be destroyed." Menadion sighed. "After my demise, the tower consumed every drop of energy in the Fusion Reactor and then the Reactor itself before cannibalizing the rest of its enchantments to keep Solus alive.

"This entire floor serves no purpose once it’s depleted, so the tower core cut it off as the first withered branch in the hope of prolonging its existence while Solus looked for one of our friends to take my place."

"Why call it Fusion Reactor, though?" Lith rushed to change the topic before the kids started asking questions about Menadion’s death. "This place stores energy. It doesn’t produce it."

"Because the world energy accumulated here becomes immune to all kinds of elemental sealing arrays, and the tower can circulate the power of the elements just like true mages do with Fusion Magic." Ripha replied.

"With this beauty by your side, you can instantly Tower Warp the moment you find a mana geyser, enjoy the protection of the tower’s arrays and defensive systems, shoot all kinds of spells even while under the effects of Frost Soul, or use the Watchtower to scout your surroundings."

"What about the Prime Engine or the Cannon Vault?" Lith asked.

"They drain too much energy to be used with just the Fusion Reactor backing them." Menadion shook her head. "You’d just have the time for a single blade swing with the Engine or one shot of the Cannon Vault.

"Most of the energy would be consumed to keep the tower and Solus safe from the aftershock. Conjuring a Silverwing’s Annihilation is not as easy as it seems. It puts a great strain on the tower that is usually neutralized by safety measures that also require a lot of world energy.

"Without a mana geyser to fuel them, the shockwaves produced by an anti-Guardian spell would be enough to compromise the tower’s structural integrity."

"On the bright side, the Fusion Reactor also works as an energy reserve for me." Solus said. "As long as it has a bit of charge left, I’m no different from a regular person. You don’t have to worry about me anymore."

’That’s bullshit.’ Lith knew that Solus was lying the moment she mentioned world energy instead of mana and life force. ’I believe the part about the Fusion Reactor allowing you to use Invigoration without any burden on me.

’I can also believe you can now rely on the Reactor to spend more time away from me, but not that something on par with the Bleed can exist. If it were true, Ripha would have built multiple Reactors and no Bleed.’

’Sadly, you are correct.’ Menadion replied through the black chains. ’The Fusion Reactor is meant to fuel an artifact, not a living being. It can support the tower in everything it does except healing Solus.

’To do that, the tower still needs a source of life force and mana. You.’

"This is great news, Solus!" Quylla brimmed with joy. "This might be the most important floor of all. How long does it take to fill the Fusion Reactor with world energy, and how much world energy does it contain already?"

"While powering all the other floors, it will take a long time. Maybe weeks." Solus scratched her head in embarrassment from her earlier lie. "Also, as you can see, the Reactor is currently empty."

"Like, no world energy? At all?" Friya asked.

"No duh, genius. I told you the tower has just finished rebuilding itself." Solus snorted.

Tista only gave half-hearted congratulations, having a hard time believing her friend’s words.

’When something seems to be too good to be true, it usually is.’ She thought. ’If Ripha could build something so powerful, then why create the Bleed in the first place? I bet that Solus wants to use the Reactor as a cover for the Bleed.

’She is still bent on protecting Ripha’s reputation, but doesn’t want anyone else to risk their life for her as I did.’

"Still, Quylla is right." Lith said. "Give the Fusion Reactor priority over everything else. We’ve already given the Trawn Woods a lot of extra world energy, and it has made great progress.

"Now we’ll focus on you. Reduce the world energy flow to the other floors to a minimum, with the exception of the Spark. Tista’s armor has a long way to go before it fits her properly."

"And I need Divine Beast-sized equipment, so I’ll also keep the Crucible active." Solus replied. "Let’s move to the last floor. Fair warning, Faluel. You and Aunt Loka are going to be the ones to hate this new floor’s guts."

The new floor was located between the Infirmary and the Watchtower. The Verhens and their friends peered into the rooms as they passed, noticing that every floor had become larger.

Moreover, the quality of every old and new piece of equipment had improved.

Aside from that, there was no significant change.

"This is what once Mom called ’the Hobby Room’, but I’ve decided to rename it the Veil." Solus opened the door, revealing a nigh-empty room. The gold-veined white marble was bare, with no decoration or runes engraved on its surface.

The Veil had no magical aura, nor could anyone detect a trace of the powerful enchantments that the room was supposed to have. Elina would have asked what the point of wasting so much space for a broom closet was, if not for one out-of-place detail.

A small pillar of stone emerged from the middle of the floor and another from the ceiling, with a diamond-shaped white crystal floating vertically between them. The tapered tips of the gemstone were a hair’s breadth from the pillars, exchanging energy with them in what resembled a corona discharge.

The process emitted no sound and produced no flash of light. If not for the emptiness of the room, one would have easily missed it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the reason I could afford to have so many guests and apprentices without the constant fear of someone, even Guardians, stealing my secrets." Menadion said.

"The Hobby Room, I mean, the Veil is the most powerful and complex cloaking system that I could devise. From now on, everything that happens inside the tower or any artifact within its premises is shielded from examination.

"Dragon Eyes, breathing techniques, Life Vision, you name it, it doesn’t work anymore. Lith, Solus, and anyone of their choosing can practice magic, and their spells will be cloaked as well."

"That’s why Solus said that Silverwing would hate this room’s guts." Tista’s eyes widened in understanding. "If the Veil had been here just a few days ago, she could have taken part in the Forgemastering process since trust wouldn’t have been an issue anymore."

"Except she is wrong." Menadion shrugged. "I’ve known Lochra much longer than Solus, and my memories of her are still intact. I can assure you she won’t get angry. Quite the contrary, she’ll be relieved."